US said the resumption of airstrikes in Somalia was to boost the fight on terrorism

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The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the United States has resumed airstrikes in Somalia against the Somali-based terror group Al-Shabab.

The United States carried out its first airstrikes in Somalia last week after more than six months of no airstrikes.

Secretary Austin told VOA that the reason for last week’s US airstrikes on Al-Shabaab militants was that Somali forces were stepping up attacks against al-Shabaab militants and hence the need for a major boost to the ground forces.

The United States is helping Somalia fight Al-Shabab terror network, sometimes carrying out airstrikes in parts of the country to defeat the rag-tag militia group which has long been bedevilled the Horn of Africa Nation.

BY OSMAN HUSSEIN ALI